Thursday, September 15, 2005
Diversion #1: Average Litres of Displacement from Cars I've Personally Owned.
Over the years I've driven quite a lot of vehicles, whether it was when I worked as a driver for a car auction, my semi-professional Motorsports experiences or from people who knew of my driving background who wished me to put their car through the ropes as it were.
These cars basically span from Suzuki Swifts with 1.0l 3 Cylinder Motors to Ferrari 308GTS's, Lotus Esprit S4S's, Authentic Cobras (not of the Mustang Variety), Aston Martin DB2 Race cars, and 7.3l Turbo Diesel F350 Pickups. I have experience with FWD, AWD, 4WD (Part Time w/No Center Diff), RWD. I've owned front engine, rear engine, water cooled, air cooled layouts. I've had wagons, hatchbacks, sedans, vans and pickups. I've had my fair share of experience owning, repairing, racing and transporting a plethora of vehicles.
My personal vehicles do say more about me though in terms of what I feel is practical for the everyday driver. In order, they are:
1979 Datsun 210 - 1.5l, 4cyl. RWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Wagon
1986 Volkswagen Golf - 1.8l, 4cyl. FWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 2 Door Hatchback/Hillclimb-Rallycar
1981 Volkswagen Vanagon - 2.1l, 4cyl. RWD, Rear Engine, Aircooled, 3 Door Van/Tow Vehicle
1985 Chevrolet S-10 Extended Cab 4x4 - 2.5l, 4cyl. 4WD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 2 Door Pickup/Tow Vehicle
1987 Volvo 240DL - 2.3l, 4cyl. RWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Sedan
2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS - 1.8l, 4cyl. Turbocharged, FWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Sedan
2005 Daewoo Lacetti - 2.0l, 4cyl. FWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Hatchback
I recently added up the displacement of all the aforementioned engines and divided by the number of vehicles. Guess what.. Apparently 2.0l is my average vehicle displacement. Given that my average was 2.0l before my most recent aquisition, I'm not surprised that I bought the Lacetti.
I've said before that I've driven a wide variety of cars from under 50bhp to over 800bhp, but I've found that while fun (a lot) for short bursts, I prefer a sensible balance. This doesn't mean that I don't know the max speed (from experience) of each of the above vehicles, nor does it imply that I haven't seen what it takes first hand to get a Vanagon airborn, an S-10 to do a 360, or a Golf on 2 side wheels at Pocono International Speedway, it just means that I realised a long time ago that more litres of displacement aren't the answer. I've learned an important lesson.
Less is more. (Unix geeks understand this in more way than one).
E
These cars basically span from Suzuki Swifts with 1.0l 3 Cylinder Motors to Ferrari 308GTS's, Lotus Esprit S4S's, Authentic Cobras (not of the Mustang Variety), Aston Martin DB2 Race cars, and 7.3l Turbo Diesel F350 Pickups. I have experience with FWD, AWD, 4WD (Part Time w/No Center Diff), RWD. I've owned front engine, rear engine, water cooled, air cooled layouts. I've had wagons, hatchbacks, sedans, vans and pickups. I've had my fair share of experience owning, repairing, racing and transporting a plethora of vehicles.
My personal vehicles do say more about me though in terms of what I feel is practical for the everyday driver. In order, they are:
1979 Datsun 210 - 1.5l, 4cyl. RWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Wagon
1986 Volkswagen Golf - 1.8l, 4cyl. FWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 2 Door Hatchback/Hillclimb-Rallycar
1981 Volkswagen Vanagon - 2.1l, 4cyl. RWD, Rear Engine, Aircooled, 3 Door Van/Tow Vehicle
1985 Chevrolet S-10 Extended Cab 4x4 - 2.5l, 4cyl. 4WD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 2 Door Pickup/Tow Vehicle
1987 Volvo 240DL - 2.3l, 4cyl. RWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Sedan
2003 Volkswagen Jetta GLS - 1.8l, 4cyl. Turbocharged, FWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Sedan
2005 Daewoo Lacetti - 2.0l, 4cyl. FWD, Front Engine, Watercooled, 4 Door Hatchback
I recently added up the displacement of all the aforementioned engines and divided by the number of vehicles. Guess what.. Apparently 2.0l is my average vehicle displacement. Given that my average was 2.0l before my most recent aquisition, I'm not surprised that I bought the Lacetti.
I've said before that I've driven a wide variety of cars from under 50bhp to over 800bhp, but I've found that while fun (a lot) for short bursts, I prefer a sensible balance. This doesn't mean that I don't know the max speed (from experience) of each of the above vehicles, nor does it imply that I haven't seen what it takes first hand to get a Vanagon airborn, an S-10 to do a 360, or a Golf on 2 side wheels at Pocono International Speedway, it just means that I realised a long time ago that more litres of displacement aren't the answer. I've learned an important lesson.
Less is more. (Unix geeks understand this in more way than one).
E
